Automated washing system technology has vastly reduced workloads of users for cleaning apparel and articles, such as clothing, dishes, and utensils. Laundry machines are typically provided as top-loading machines or front-loading machines, which designate the orientation of the internal machine tub. Each of these systems clean clothing or other fabrics, for example, with the use of water, detergents, agitation, and if desired, thermal energy.
For example, in a top-loading system, the clothing may be placed in the drum tub along with a chemical detergent. When the washing machine is operated, water is introduced into the drum from a supply line. When a sufficient quantity of water is introduced, the drum rotates the tub in an oscillating manner to allow the chemical detergents to remove dirt, oil, and other contaminants from the clothing. After the wash cycle is complete, a spin cycle may be performed to remove the contaminated water from the tub. A rinse cycle may then be performed to remove any residual contaminated water, followed by one or more additional spins cycle to drain the used water from the tub.
Similarly, in a dishwashing machine, the dishes and utensils retained within the interior of the dishwasher, which is also referred to as a tub, are subjected to washing, rinsing, and drying cycles. The washing cycle typically involves introducing heated water from a supply line, and exposing the dishes and utensils to a detergent. The rinse cycle then removes the contaminated water prior to drying.
Chemical detergents are used in almost all commercial and residential laundry and dishwashing systems. The detergents may include a variety of chemicals, such as surfactants, enzymes, bleaching agents, and phosphates. Such chemicals may undesirably attack the articles being cleaned, which may result in a reduction in the quality of the cleaned articles (e.g., faded and eroded clothing). Furthermore, such chemicals increase contamination in the waste water drained from such washing machines, which increase environmental concerns. Thus, there is an ongoing need for systems and techniques for cleaning articles with reduced quantities of detergents and reduced volumes of water.